A FURIOUS Margaret Thatcher warned Brazil of “serious consequences” after it impounded a Vulcan bomber forced to land in Rio after a daring Falklands mission, declassified documents reveal.

Foreign Office telegrams from 1982 now released show the prime minister called on the US to intervene after Brazil refused to allow it to take off under pressure from Argentina.

The bomber had been forced to make an emergency landing in Rio after taking out an enemy radar in the Falklands. It had taken off from Ascension Island on June 3, 1982, for the longrange strike on the Argentine target using state-of-the-art Shrike missiles during Operation Black Buck.

The 8,000-mile round trip pushed the Vulcan beyond its normal range of operation and was seen as the boldest RAF mission since the famed Dambusters raid during the Second World War.

After successfully taking out the radar, the Vulcan’s pilot Squadron Leader Neil McDougall was forced to divert to Brazil after the bomber’s refuelling probe snapped off while taking on fuel from an aerial tanker.

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British troops during the Falklands war

Upon landing at Galeao airport in Rio, the Brazilian authorities, under pressure from Argentina, impounded the Vulcan and its one remaining Shrike missile, refusing to release it until the end of the war. After initially agreeing to release the Vulcan, the Brazilians’ sudden U-turn infuriated Thatcher.

A telegram was sent to the British ambassador in Brazil by the Foreign Office, bluntly telling him to express Thatcher’s anger at the situation. It stated: “In the circumstances, Brazilians should be in no doubt that Her Majesty’s Government considers reversal of the decision announced yesterday [to release the Vulcan] as having very serious consequences.

“If you consider that it would help Brazilians to reach a favourable decision, you could offer to guarantee that both the aircraft and the missile would be returned to the UK and put in bond, subject to inspection, and not used in the present conflict.”

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Brazil refused to allow the Vulcan bomber to leave after it had landed in Rio

When this failed to persuade the Brazilians to give way, the Foreign Office turned to Washington for help with the dispute. A further telegram said: “We have informed the State Department and asked them to get the US Ambassador to weigh in.”

The Americans, anxious to preserve the secrets of the highly-advanced Shrike anti-radar missile, which they had provided to Britain when the Falklands War broke out, agreed to intervene.

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The plane was eventually allowed to fly to Ascension Island

Another telegram from the Foreign Office stated: “They have confirmed that in view of the need to protect the missile’s technology, he [the US Ambassador] has instructions to raise the matter at the highest possible level.”

The combined Anglo-American diplomatic offensive finally worked and a week later, just four days before the end of the war, Brazil allowed the Vulcan to be flown back to Ascension Island.